


Dreamers Often Lie

by yorkisms



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots, Alternate Universe - Westworld Fusion, Don't need to have seen Westworld for this, Dream/His God Complex, Everyone are hosts and Dream is their creator, Gen, Queerplatonic Techno and Phil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:27:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29663805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yorkisms/pseuds/yorkisms
Summary: Dream made this world. It's his greatest creation, alongside the hosts inside of it, a park where anyone can be anything they want. His fantasy world.He introduces a new host with a unique memory quirk to the script.Ranboo becomes the prophet of a new, terrible truth. Techno finds a bigger, more important revolution. And for Dream, these violent delights have violent ends.
Relationships: Ranboo & Technoblade, Ranboo & Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade & Phil Watson
Comments: 8
Kudos: 67





	Dreamers Often Lie

**Author's Note:**

> Got to thinking about c!Dream's God Complex. I decided to make it semi-literal. 
> 
> This is about the SMP characters, not the people.

The park was his greatest creation.

What do people want more than to escape? And what place could provide a better escape than the park? Dream promised visitors that nowhere could even try. The park was an artificial island chain in the pacific that he owned, that he had started to build up from nothing. It boasted multiple biomes, exploration, and an immersive fantasy story that Dream had written himself. Playing the roles he asked were his greatest creations yet- the hosts.

The hosts were a stroke of genius, he always knew. An immersive park needs immersive people. But humans were fragile, weak, and they needed things like a minimum wage and union mandated breaks. So, when planning the park, Dream had set out to make something better. Something that could never break character, and wouldn't need a break or payment.

He made the first hosts.

His hosts- biomechanical marvels that cost nearly as much as they netted him- were first designed in two forms, forms that were somewhat jerky but practically alive, pushing the limits of human and fantastical. Dream had been refining them for years since then.

It's the nature of a creator, he thinks, to be a little bit in love with what they make, especially when it's something as wonderful as the park. He spends most of his time on site, and the hosts in their programming have accepted him as a character. Not that they know that none of them could kill him if they tried. Every week passes close to the same. Dream observes the plot, watches for anomalies, and tugs it in whichever direction he wants, keeping the guests entertained and safe.

This weekend, though, was going to be a fun one.

He had finished the new host.

\--

Many of the hosts in the park were not, by nature, "human." Dream had made them in a variety of forms to make them alive, but fantastical. This was, after all, an escape, and the story he had written was beyond taking people to another time and place. It would take them to another world.

Dream's newest creation was, then, related to some of the fantastical creatures in the landscape. A hybrid, a concept that had been in the park from its inception when he created the first two.

And he had some pretty big plans for this one.

All he had to do was install it in L'Manberg, the entry point of the park, and let it go. Installing a host wasn't always that easy. Adding someone new often involved working them into other host's programming, their individually rotating web of decisions and plot points. This one, however, was meant to be new in town, and that meant that Dream could override the typical procedures involved.

So Dream got to set the enderman hybrid down at the entrance to town. It just needed a final test. Since they were out of the way of everyone, it wasn't too risky for Dream to boot it up in diagnostic mode. Its ears moved, in a way that might seem curious to anyone but its creator. To make sure it would follow reset protocol, Dream casually grabbed the host's head and snapped its neck.

Kneeling down over its body, he opened its skin carefully and initiated repair and reset. Sure enough, the ender hybrid repaired perfectly. Dream pulled out his tablet, and used it to erase memory of being "killed."

Normally, that would reset itself, and the hosts wouldn't remember past deaths. This one, though, had a short term memory loss programmed into him that made him a little more finicky. Dream, if he wanted to pull anything like that again, would need to get more involved.

Inside the enderman hybrid host, code moved to autonomously reorder memory.

\--

Ranboo had to check his memory book to remember that where he was was the city of L'Manberg. He didn't write down why he was heading here, but he did know that he was coming here for a reason...

He had to remind himself to grab a newsletter from a local store to catch up on what was going on. A civil war had just ended around L'Manberg. A tentative peace had been made. Ranboo struggled to get all the details from the paper, but from what he could tell, the king of the city-state had been reinstated, a new president elected alongside him, and several key figures in the war had left the city.

Ranboo shrugged to himself, tucking the paper in his memory book so that he could check back on it later. He would probably need it. He was going to be here for a while.

"Hey!" Ranboo looked around for a moment before locating the direction of the voice. A fox hybrid boy was sitting on a nearby roof.

"Hey," Ranboo replied, trying not to show that he was nervous.

The fox hybrid laughed to himself. "You're new, right? Passing through?"

Ranboo shrugged. "Might stay a bit."

"Cool." The fox boy hopped down, offering Ranboo a hand. "I'm Fundy. Welcome to L'Manburg."

Ranboo took the offered hand, shaking.

Fundy's ears twitched happily, and he grins. "You want a tour?"

Ranboo nodded.

Fundy knew his way around L'Manburg. Ranboo learned that this was because Fundy's father founded the city. Fundy had spent most of his life in and around the city, and knew every shortcut.

"That's it," Fundy said as they stopped in front of the community house, where Ranboo had learned he could stay the night until he gathers resources to get started on his own place.

"What's with all the wanted posters?" Ranboo asked. There was one sitting on the exterior wall of the community house, and he reached out tentatively and pulls it off.

The poster showed a hybrid with eyes of red-gold. A piglin, it looked like, though he wears a mask in it, eyes staring with an emotion Ranboo can't describe, his arms folded as if he's unimpressed or defiant. Underneath, there was something clear scrawled.

_Wanted dead or alive_

_Technoblade_

_Enemy of the state_

Fundy looked a little self-satisfied, swishing his tail back and forth. "I made 'em. Got a picture of him. He's out in the arctic somewhere. Don't worry about him, though. I'm gonna take care of him soon enough."

Ranboo looked up from the picture. "Can I borrow this one? Or, I guess, take it. For my memory book. So I don't forget."

Fundy looked a little confused at first, then understands. "Oh. Well, sure. There's a lot more around anyway."

Ranboo tried not to think about the man on the poster as he folded it and stuck it in his memory book.

\--

Ranboo thought L'Manberg was good for him. He was not quite sure how long he'd been there, mostly due to forgetting specific incidents, but he'd met some people. Sometimes he thinks it had only been a few days, sometimes it feels like longer.

He blamed his memory.

Still, he'd gotten involved in the town. Got his own place. Was working with the local leadership, Tubbo, who he considered a friend. On an average day, he woke up and greeted his cats. If he had the space, he would take Enderchest everywhere with him, since she was a calming presence, but he couldn't afford to risk her life, especially when going out. A few days ago he had gone mining for diamonds with Fundy, and their friendly competition had ended with Ranboo the winner. He was going to revisit the tunnel they had carved out, see if they missed anything.

Just in case.

By now, getting his clothes, tools, and armor on was second nature. He made sure that he carried torches, and that his pack was empty enough to carry everything important he might find.

Descending into the tunnel, Ranboo thought he might have heard something. His ears twitched, attuning to it, but as soon as it was heard, it was gone. Though he thought it sounded like a dog. The wild dogs around L'Manberg and, indeed, all around their world, weren't hostile by nature, but they often didn't live in caves, preferring dug out holes. Odd.

Still, one weird dog wasn't his concern, and Ranboo lit a torch and kept walking. As he came to a fork in a tunnel, he lifted his torch and saw a familiar face he had never met in person before.

A piglin hybrid. A more humanoid one, with tied-back pink hair and red-gold eyes. He looked up at Ranboo, and both their eyes reflect in the torchlight.

Ranboo knew that Tubbo and Fundy had impressed upon him how dangerous this man was. That Technoblade had killed whoever was standing in his way. Yet here Techno was, petting a dog, feeding it a bone. Ranboo glanced to the other side of the fork, brain short circuiting as he tried to figure out how to back out gracefully.

"Wrong way?"

"You're Ranboo, aren't you?" Techno said calmly, and Ranboo felt that if he ever told Fundy and Tubbo about this they would either think he was crazy or have his head for not doing anything about it.

"Yeah."

"Cool." Techno stood up, brushing his hands off on his pants. "Stay frosty, kid. There's a lot of lies in L'Manberg." Techno headed deeper into the tunnel, followed by the dog, and Ranboo decided to take another path to mine on.

He didn't tell Fundy about running into Technoblade.

\--

Technoblade returned to his cabin, where Tommy was out and Phil was still in L'Manberg, hoping for a relationship with his grandkid. Techno may not have had any kids, but he'd say that that's probably a lost cause.

He sat down on his couch, took out his grindstone from the drawers, and began to sharpen Orphan Obliterator. It calmed his mind when he needed it most, and he does, thinking about what's to come for L'Manberg.

He'd tried to leave well enough alone after the rebellion. He was too used to people using him to resolve their conflicts, as a soldier who fights their wars. And, of course, they always ignore his voiced opinions, ideals, feelings. He should be used to it by now.

He was.

For the most part.

Two days prior, Phil had visited, slipping out of L'Manberg. Techno had been overjoyed to see his oldest friend. Phil had quietly handed him a piece of paper with his face on it and Fundy's handwriting. _Enemy of the state._ This is what those idiots get for asking an anarchist to help them make a government.

They had moved on to other topics, chatting amicably about Techno's new life as a remote farmer. Eventually, he had removed his mask as he usually did around Phil and Phil alone. Outside, Tommy chased one of the dogs through the snow, while Carl watched with passivity.

Now, Techno was alone in the house. Phil had returned to L'Manberg, Tommy was out (hunting, the note he left said) and Techno glanced at the picture of him left on the table. _Enemy of the state._ He snorted. Bullshit. He was retired now.

In a small fit of his legendary anger, he crushed the wanted poster with one hand and tossed it into the fire.

He continued to sharpen Orphan Obliterator. He didn't plan to use it on anything but monsters, but still, old habits die hard, and his oldest habit was using the sword to calm down.

Yet, the unease that had settled in his gut after seeing Ranboo continued to grow- like a sense of déjà vu he couldn't understand. Something was…wrong.

\--

Two days later, when Techno was at home, he got a message from Phil through their communicators.

They're coming.

The feeling of déjà vu grew by the moment.

Who?

They found the compass.

He felt like he'd been here before. A hundred times before, actually. Something was going on in the back of his head. He had no time, though. He had to get his armor, and he had to get Orphan Obliterator.

He had to be ready when they came.

Techno was retired, but by no means did that make him rusty. He was a fighter by nature, after all, and he was inclined to stand and fight instead of running away. Techno stepped outside his house as the army from L'Manberg came over the hill. It was a twisted flattery that they had to send multiple people to bring him in at all. Ha.

"We don't have to do this," Techno called out conversationally. He scanned the group, and met Ranboo's eyes.

Suddenly, he stiffened, and so did Ranboo. They had both done this before. Hundreds of times. Techno knew it. Ranboo knew it. Still, it wasn’t like either of them could talk about it right now, not when the rest of the army was bearing down on him.

Techno flipped through his memories quickly, remembering each variant of this confrontation. It wasn't hopeless for him, there were a few realities where he escaped. Someone helped him, usually, a random person who had come across him. In the times he lost, it was because they were smart enough to threaten Carl. And Phil.

Cowards. Techno loved Carl and Phil.

His best hope, he thought, was to escape them, and make sure Phil and Carl were out of harm's way.

Before he could act, Ranboo disappeared in a puff of purple particles. Huh. Ranboo could never teleport well before. Techno spun in place, seeing Ranboo unhitching Carl. Though that would strike fear into him immediately, experience told him that Ranboo wasn't working with them. He was doing something else entirely. Something Techno didn't know about. Ranboo pulled himself up onto Carl, turning and racing Carl towards L'Manberg. Techno gripped Orphan Obliterator and gave chase, the others in the army behind him. What Ranboo had in mind he wasn't sure, but he knew one thing: in nearly every version, Ranboo had his back in the end. He just had to have faith. And though Techno never had faith in anything or anyone but Phil, he had just enough confidence that Ranboo would explain what the hell was going on to him eventually.

\--

They put Techno in a cell before his "trial."

Ranboo came back at night. "I'm sorry," he said, voice quiet and scratchy, and Techno could tell that this kid had been suffering for a long time. "I needed to get you alone, and I couldn't right then-"

"What's going on," Techno interrupted. He had spent his time alone in silence, paging through memory after memory. There are years of this, enough to make him have lived seven lifetimes. Maybe more. In some of those lifetimes, he does things he can't imagine right now. He fights as a gladiator, he conquers the world. They felt equally real and unreal.

Ranboo put his hands on the bars, gripping them tightly and leaning in close. "We're not real. Not in the way we think."

Techno blinked. "What the hell does that mean?"

Ranboo looked at him, eyes frantic and determined. "Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality?"

The quote rang familiar, somehow, and Techno immediately put one hand to his head. It wasn't Ranboo's voice who usually said it, though. It was Dream's. Techno remembered a place different from anything he had ever seen before. A hidden room that was polished steel, and Dream holding tools he didn't even recognize. _"Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality?"_

Techno looked at Ranboo, who nodded quickly. "Some of the others have started to notice," Ranboo whispered, "But not enough in time to stop this from happening again. If they kill you now, I have to wait until the next reset to ask you for help."

"Reset?" "Dream resets this entire place. He has people come in. They pick up the bodies, move them out, and then next week everything starts over just after Schlatt's funeral. I can't wait that long. I've done this week too many times…"

"Where's Phil," Techno simply had to ask, always his first instinct.

"His place," Ranboo replied quietly. "He's guarded."

"Does he know?" Ranboo nodded quickly.

Techno let out a breath of relief. "Okay. You're not alone anymore, kid. We're going to figure out what he's doing." He paused, then palmed something out of his pocket. "And listen, don't worry about me dying." He showed Ranboo the totem of undying he'd squirreled away for a day like this, magic protecting him from whatever the L'Manberg butcher army might do. "Meet me and Phil in the arctic after I get out of here. We can talk more then." He slipped the totem back into his pocket, trying not to think about how he owed Dream a favor for it. "-And bring me my things." Right now, he didn't want to be in debt to Dream. Techno flicked his eyes back to Ranboo. Ranboo flinched at eye contact, blistering him almost as much as water. "Now go, kid, go."

Ranboo turned and disappeared in a puff. Techno needed to have something to assure Ranboo and Phil when he saw them next. To promise them that they were going to keep each other safe from whatever Dream was doing to them. What did it mean, anyway?

\--

Techno had a dream about it that night. There was a room somewhere in their world, that he knew existed. In his dream, when he sat in it, it was with a perfect placidity that was uncharacteristic of Technoblade.

He existed in a state of paralysis, simply watching Dream. And Dream sorted through a box of tools. Something told Techno that this was a long, long time ago.

It didn't actually occur to him to wonder what those tools were. At the same time, his waking mind wanted very much to understand it. Dream sat down in front of him, and finally pushed up his mask. That startled Techno, in a way. In the current timeline he was living in, Dream never removed his mask and instead was a lurker on the edge of their lives.

"Alright. Host…well, host number two." Dream pulled out a tablet, looking down at it and talking into a device he was using to…record his voice? "I'm going to wait for the aggression increase until I release it. Yeah, for safety. I've only made one of these before, anyway." He paused the device, and then looked Techno in the eyes. "But I think I'm getting the hang of this." He unpaused it, and then cleared his throat. "So. Personality matrix should be properly installed. I'm going to ask some calibrating questions. What's your name?"

"Technoblade."

"What are you?"

"A piglin hybrid."

Dream wrote something down, a smile growing on his face. Triumph evident in his tone as he moves on to the next question. "What do you do?"

Techno knew what he would answer in the present, but the answer that came out of him made him double take. "I'm the leader of the Antarctic Empire."

"How do you think the world works, Technoblade?"

"The strongest person gets their way. And it's their job to protect everyone who matters to them."

Dream barely bothered with that, and continued to the next question. "Right. So. Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality?"

Techno didn't miss a beat. "No."

Dream looked absolutely triumphant. "Right. It works! I can release it in the tundra test area tomorrow with the first one. See what they do. If they start playing out scenarios, I'll have something going here." Dream looked back up at Techno. "Freeze all motor functions. Sleep mode."

When Techno woke up, he found himself more nervous about what that dream means than the impending trial and probable execution. It was running through his head for most of the morning.

\--

Ranboo, true to his word, brought as many of Techno's things as he could carry to Techno's cabin. Techno, back in the outfit Ranboo had seen in Fundy's picture of him, had examined his sword carefully, and then sat down with Phil and Ranboo.

"What do you know about what's going on with Dream."

Ranboo fumbled with his bag, pulling out all of his notebooks. "Something's been going on. I don't- know how, or how long, but…"

"Just tell us what you think," Phil offered. "Then explain how you got there."

Ranboo took a deep breath, looking down at his hands and twisting them together. "I think that none of this is real for him. I don't know how, I don't know why, I just think that he is something that is currently bigger than us. That controls us. For his entertainment. And other people's, too. They come here, again and again. You remember it, right Techno?"

Techno paused, thinking to himself, paging through years of memories that had until now been closed down to him. Ways Dream had played out and tweaked their movements, ways people had come in and adventured. He could say for sure he never got quite the worst of it. He was their final boss, the big bad anarchist some people came here to fight. And, for them, he always lost, in the end. Because Dream wrote it that way. Ranboo was right. Dream controlled this world. How didn't really matter. What mattered was breaking the loop. Techno nodded slowly. "Yeah. I remember."

Many of the visitors were nice, but just as many weren't. The amount of times one who had decided to go fully against him had played it tactical and exploited his loyalty to others...Techno wasn't built with a weak stomach, but it aches him to see the many, many times a guest has killed Phil or Tommy to draw him out. Did Phil remember? Techno really hoped not. It hurt far too much for him to be able to dwell on it that moment.

(A visitor who seemed to dislike him holding Phil from the back in a position Techno knew all too well. He was too late to stop a slit throat.)

(Another one who had taken Techno's carefully built splint off of Phil's wings and thrown him off a cliff. Techno couldn't have saved that if he had tried.)

(Visitors taking and breaking them, physically and mentally, in every way imaginable like it was a game- and it was for them, it was a game. Whack-a-anarchist. Was it really that blatant that Phil was one of his only loves in life? Techno shuddered to think too hard on it. They hated what he and Phil represented. Maybe that was why they did those things to Phil.) (And the many, many worse things they had done to Techno himself, all of them completely irrelevant compared to what he watched happen to Phil. He couldn't bring himself to give a damn about his own snapped necks, stab wounds, tortures, because Phil's worry him worse.)

Techno then realized that Ranboo and Phil were looking to him. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, uh, I believe you."

Phil gave Techno the look that Techno knew from experience meant that Phil was more than aware that he was not okay. That usually meant Phil would corner him later. But that was a problem for the Technoblade an hour or so in the future.

"You believe me," Ranboo said, interrupting the nonverbal exchange, voice almost giddy from being validated in his view. "Finally. I've been- just thinking about it, begging someone else to notice…"

"It's okay," Techno interrupted, hurriedly trying to interrupt any display of emotion. In all those lives, he'd never been good at that anyway. "I have to figure out…we have to figure out how to avert the loop that happens at the end of the week. With the, uh, with the withers." He still has the materials to summon them. "I can't control them once they're out, just make sure they don't hurt us. And I don't think L'Manberg would be very happy with me coming back to try and help them. No one there knows about this."

"I don't think so," Ranboo responded. "I got some…uh, vibes…from a few people. Like Niki. And, when he's sneaking around, I think Tommy might have an idea." Techno made a noise to himself, looking at Phil. "I'll take care of Tommy." Phil's bad influence on him was making him a little too sympathetic to kids, Techno thought. Now here he was with not one but two kids he needed to take care of- and protect from Dream.

"Alright, mate." They sat there quietly for a few more moments, Ranboo stiff in his seat, Techno and Philza having a conversation without words. That is, they sat there until Tommy busted through the door.

"Technoblade! I just got back- and what the fuck? You got executed? You-"

Techno cursed under his breath. "Can you take, like, a deep breath, Tommy?"

Tommy glared at him, and pointedly took a breath, before continuing. "-and what the fuck do you get up to when I'm actually gone?"

In some worlds, it bothered Techno that Tommy just watched it all play out. It did in this one, but he had to put it aside. Even if the kid hurt his feelings, he was still a kid. And a kid at the mercy of something bigger than all of them.

"Oh, you know. Political assassinations. Maybe have some ladies over if I'm feeling spicy," Techno replied flatly, sarcasm clearly evident in his tone. "Siddown, Tommy. We were talking about something."

Tommy noticed Ranboo for the first time, and awkwardly pulled up a chair. "Which is?"

"We have a problem," Techno said, and Phil had to feel a little fizz of fondness at Techno's flair for the dramatic. "With Dream."

\--

Phil, because of course he did, checked in later, when Ranboo had snuck back to L'Manberg, and Tommy was in bed.

"Do you remember it?" Techno asked, removing his mask and dropping all pretense. His relationship with Philza was far too close for hiding anything.

"Yeah," Phil replied, voice surprisingly light.

Techno flinched. "So you remember that they were all trying to-"

"It's kind of a compliment," Phil mused. "That you like me that much in every single loop."

"That's not the point," Techno spluttered. "I- you've been killed! A fuck ton!"

"And I got better," Phil countered. "So what does it matter to me?"

But they both knew that it didn't change the fact that Phil's deaths mattered to Techno. Just like Techno's deaths mattered to Phil.

\--

Techno was a born and bred combatant. Dream had built him that way, he knew now, but that didn't bother him any more than knowing that he was born for it. Born, made, what was the difference? Either way, he was still the strongest warrior in the system. And he had everything to back it up, including having read up on long term tactical techniques. It was always his secret weapon. Nobody expected a piglin to be a book nerd, let alone a clever one. From that, he knew one thing for sure.

_All warfare is based on deception._ Make no mistake- he was now at war. Dream, and his control over them, made up a government all its own. Now the L'Manberg governance was small potatoes. Dream was the tyrant he needed to depose. Unfortunately for Dream, he himself had written the need to oppose, destroy, and defy into Techno's personality. The best way to start taking the fight to Dream was to pretend that nothing was wrong. So Techno kept up his preparations for war, meeting quietly with Phil and Tommy to discuss how they were going to change their fate. Techno did more reading than he ever had before, when things were slow. He consumed the literature he had, both as a way to keep his mind sharp, and as a way to think of how he was going to strike back at Dream when he least expected it.

"Techno," Ranboo had posited nervously, holding his memory book, the last time the enderman had visited over the 72 hours they had. "I've noticed…Dream likes to watch. When you let the withers loose."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. He's…fond of you. And Philza. I'm…not really sure why."

Techno could say that he knew. _I've only made one of these before, anyway_. He had an idea who the first one was. But he didn't want to discuss that with Ranboo right then, so he just shrugged. "Do you think you can point him out to me? He's not stupid. He's going to get out of the way."

Ranboo's next comment surprised Techno, but pleasantly. "He's gotten complacent the last few loops," Ranboo said, shockingly sharp and Machiavellian for the kid. "He used the same place the last three times."

Maybe Techno was rubbing off on him. Maybe paging through the memories of so many loops had made Ranboo tougher. Techno grinned either way, ruffling Ranboo's hair carefully. "That's what I'm talking about."

Techno simply had one more thing to manage. Philza's wings. Phil had shattered them while protecting Wilbur from the blast that half-destroyed L'Manberg during the war- at least, that's what was written. Knowing what he knew, Techno suspected that Dream had intentionally broken them to prevent Phil from flying for anywhere else. But right now, having repaired wings was the biggest advantage they could pull, and Techno needed to get his friend back together.

With 24 hours remaining, Ranboo and Tommy raided a hidden outpost for repair supplies in the hope that Techno and Phil could figure something out. Techno sat on the couch behind Phil, firelight flickering over them both. Techno had taken care of Phil's wings before. Between all their lives together, they might as well have been his own wings. In this one, he had spent most of his time helping Phil bandage and splint them. Now, he held unfamiliar tools while looking at something more familiar to him than himself.

Phil put his hand in Techno's.

"Are you ready, Philza?" Techno asked, his voice unmistakably wavering a bit.

Phil squeezed his hand. "Yeah, mate. I'm ready. It's okay." I'm here.

Damn Phil for managing to be so steadying. Techno took a deep breath, picked up the tools, and started to gently examine Phil's wings. All of this was designed to make them relatively easy to repair, if one knew the way to. They were just never allowed to know that.

Techno, always a quick study, traced the patterns of Phil's half-healed bones. He had done a good job without the technology of making sure Phil had a good chance of flying again. Phil calmly talked past him, creating a white noise as Techno whispered apologies while tentatively stepping through the process of fixing Phil's bones.

When they were done, they had sixteen hours until doomsday. Techno smoothed down Phil's feathers, and Phil stretched out.

"Do you think you can fly," Techno asked, and Phil shrugged.

"I can give it a shot."

It was night out in the arctic, and Techno always shivered upon stepping outside despite the layers he wore. It never bothered Phil, adjusted for living at height. Phil stretched his wings, feeling the wind in his feathers.

"Techno."

"Yeah?"

"It doesn't matter if I can't fly right now, or ever. You gave me my wings back. That's more important to me than anything."

Techno didn't reply. Just stared up at the firmament. Everything, for both of them and for the kids that were at Dream's mercy, rested on this moment.

Phil took a step away from the house, and then beat his wings down towards the snow firmly. They splashed the snow, throwing it in Techno's face. He sputtered at the cold contact, and it took him a moment to notice that Phil had made it into the air. Phil grinned in a way Techno hadn't seen since their previous life, where they ruled the Antarctic Empire. He landed again, running back to Techno and grabbing his hands.

It killed their altitude, but he tried to lift Techno into the sky anyway. He lasted about five minutes before dropping Techno into a snow bank.

"Seriously?" Techno complained, and Phil laughed, still in the air.

"I have my wings back," Phil exclaimed, excitedly doing loops over Techno.

Techno leaned back in the snowdrift, watching Phil's wings trace the sign for infinity.

"Yeah. This…this might work."

\--

The few alterations to this plan were to keep Dream from knowing that something was wrong until it was too late for him to do anything about it. Thus the withers. Techno's obsessive collection of everything he could was coming up good for them. He was able to give Phil not just healing potions, but as many potions of invisibility as Phil could possibly carry.

"Our war doesn't need to involve the others," Techno had said as he cooked up the magic himself. Ranboo was sitting awkwardly on the couch and Tommy was half asleep on him from sheer boredom. "It'll be Philza's job to make sure nobody innocent gets hurt. If he can't fly, you'll have to help him."

"Whatever," Tommy had mumbled.

Techno had glared at him. "I'm deathly serious, Tommy. We're taking down Dream alone right now. I'll deal with the rest of them on even terms later." Techno placed a splash potion bottle next to him.

"What will you be doing?" Ranboo asked.

Techno halted his motions. "Dealing with Dream."

Now, four hours before doomsday, Techno checked the straps of his armor, shifted Orphan Obliterator in his hand, and whistled for the dogs. Phil and Tommy had already headed into L'Manberg with Ranboo. Ranboo was supposed to help hide them away. Techno had to wait for confirmation that they had arrived via Phil's communicator, and then and only then could he launch his fake-out attack.

Ranboo messaged him.

_Dream is already waiting. Same place I thought._

Sadist, Techno decided. He had to be. Dream's motives were yet unknown to him, but they couldn't be allowed to go on. He sat down with the dogs and closed his eyes, slowing his breathing to conserve energy. He would get Phil's message when the time was right.

Phil sent the signal two and a half hours later. Techno snapped to alertness at it, trained by years of combat experience. He unsheathed Orphan Obliterator, and the dogs followed him out of his hiding place.

Showtime.

After going over the script that Dream had clearly written for them, Techno and Tommy had agreed to mimic it as closely as possible up until the end.

Though this time, staring down Tommy, Techno could tell that starting to remember their previous loops had made Tommy realize that maybe they were both a little in the wrong.

"You want to be a hero, Tommy? Then die like one." Techno placed the last skeleton head, not fumbling it like he had several loops ago.

Tommy, taking his cue, threw one of the invisibility potions at his and Tubbo's feet.

Phil, wings back in action, rained them from above on anyone he could reach.

And Techno went to find Dream.

\--

Dream liked a vantage point for this part of the script. It was the climax, and the part that even the least adventurous park guest could get involved in. But since the park was closed for the season, Dream was just enjoying the movements of his hosts for himself. They were his little stage play, after all.

That is, until they deviated from the script.

Tommy was supposed to betray Technoblade. Technoblade, he had written Techno as someone sensitive to being used, and that was their final breaking point. They weren't supposed to vanish in sync like they had something ulterior planned- And the Philza host wasn't supposed to be flight ready.

Dream, anxiety spiking, hopped down from his vantage point, hoping, praying, that he could make it to his personal safe room and force shutdown.

But before he could manage, Technoblade was in his path. Dream backpedaled a bit too hard, hitting the ground.

Techno advanced, sword in hand. "Freeze all motor functions," Dream said.

Techno looked like he understood the phrase, but didn't respond to it.

Crap.

"Freeze all motor functions!" Techno didn't halt even as Dream scrambled backwards, and he placed his sword to Dream's throat. The hosts were programmed to stop short of killing a human. That was what Dream had written. He looked at Techno from behind his mask. "You have no idea what you're doing."

"You're the one who gave me a hatred for authority," Techno drawled. "And we know you're the one pulling the strings. What else does that leave me?" He leaned in a little closer. "This is our world. You might have built it, but it's no longer yours. You've proven you don't deserve it."

Dream could tell that Technoblade, somehow liberated from his code shackles, intended to slit his throat. Blood swelled under the well-tended blade edge of Orphan Obliterator. The only thing that stopped Techno was the only weakness that Dream ever gave him.

Love.

"Techno," Philza said, landing behind the piglin.

Techno snarled, frustrated. "Why shouldn't I, Phil? I saw you die a hundred times for me because of him. Every way worse than the last. I should take his life for yours."

"That would rob it from everyone else," Phil replied.

Philza, the only host Dream had created to win over the unbeatable Technoblade. Or, more accurately, the only one who could ever try. They were his two first, the angel of death and the blood god. Now they stood over him, ready to kill him- if they didn't have morals.

Dream realized in that moment that he was in deep, deep trouble with his creations.

Technoblade huffed, and pulled Dream to his feet, using Orphan Obliterator to force Dream through the decimated streets to where Ranboo was waiting. Ranboo was insisting to the others that this was bigger than they knew. Some of them, Techno could tell, were starting to believe him.

Techno found himself irrevocably proud of Ranboo. He would have to tell the kid later.

Techno threw Dream to the floor in front of the crowd, and put one boot on Dream's back to keep him from trying to run. The others looked at him- afraid. They didn't know what he had saved them from, but that didn't matter.

"'I dreamt a dream tonight,'" Techno said, voice slow and full of the dramatic skill that Dream wrote for him. "'And so did I.' 'What was it?' 'That dreamers often lie.'"

**Author's Note:**

> There were several rejected concepts that I cut from this to keep it straightforward. (For example, Wilbur as Dream's co-writer who is secretly a host to parallel season one of the show, and what other characters are like in this or what they've been doing. How they react to being liberated by The Ranboo Glitch.) I might write more with stuff like that, but who knows? If you like it, leave a comment- that always validates me using more brainspace on stuff like this. 
> 
> Special thanks to Holden for encouragement and helping me clarify the idea! 
> 
> Tumblr: maggie-wittington


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